We Found a House - Finally!

I was beginning to feel like this day would never come, but we finally found a house! Last week was quite the whirlwind. Our realtor texted me on Monday afternoon to let me know a listing that was a good fit for us came on the market. We were free that evening so went to see it at 5. After looking at houses for 2 years, we quickly know when a house is right for us - and this one was! While it's a 1925 home (most homes we look at are built in the early 1900s), it had newer windows, forced air heat (many homes had a boiler heat system which we hoping to avoid), central air, and a great layout. The house was significantly renovated about 11 years ago so that's why it has newer windows and some modern updates like forced air heat.

After seeing the house, we talked it over and decided to make an offer that evening. We figured the owners would wait to accept it until the following day as they had more showings set up on Tuesday. But they ended up accepting the offer that night! They have 2 kids under 3 and didn't want to put up with more showings. We also had offered a bit over asking price so came in with a strong offer.

The photos below are a bit blurry but give  you an idea of what the house looks like.

It's a 2-story home with great curb appeal. While I love the look of stucco, the vinyl siding is much more low maintenance. I love the window boxes!

The house is about 2,500 square feet. We wanted to stay below 3,000 square feet and were hoping to stay in the 2,100 to 2,500 area. We like that the main level has a very open floor plan and is bright and sunny. The windows also have plantation blind window treatments which is another nice perk!

We also really liked the kitchen. Down the road, I will probably hire someone to paint the cabinets white as I don't love the 2-toned darker brown/cream color. But that's something we'll tackle several years down the road.

The kitchen opens up to a dining room and there is a little window seat area in between the kitchen and dining area with built-in shelves.

Upstairs, there are 3 bedrooms. The master bedroom has a walk-in closet and a master bath which is another rare feature in an older home! We were hoping for 3 bedrooms upstairs as we are hoping/planning to have 2 kids so they will each have their own room. Additionally, there is a guest room and bathroom in the (finished) basement as well as a family room area down there. It will be nice to have a guest suite for my parents since they don't live locally!

The backyard is really nice as well. There  is a deck off the dining room and a stamped concrete patio that the sellers put in a couple of years ago.

After looking at houses for 2 years, we knew no house would be perfect. So the "not ideal" aspect of the house is that it's on a hill. So we'll have to walk down some stairs to get to the garage. We have the corner lot so Phil will have to do a lot of snow removal and since we are on a hill, the sidewalk on the north side is on a hill... We have a corner lot now so he's used to moving a lot of snow but the hill/slope of the sidewalk will add a challenge!  I told him that Paul can help him in 10 years or so! ;)

Also, the garage is much smaller than our current garage. It's a 2-stall garage but it's going to be a tight fit for our 2 cars. But that is city living for you. Garages in south Minneapolis are smaller and you access them through the alley. We'll have to add some sort of storage shed for things like our lawn mower, snow blower, stroller, etc.

We've got a hectic 2 months ahead between buying this house and selling our home. Phil doesn't like change or spending money so buying a house is, well, a nightmare for him. I'm hoping he feels less anxious once we are in the house. I think anticipating change is always worse than just dealing with it. But by Thanksgiving, we should be pretty settled!! Outside of updating some of the paint colors, the house is very turnkey so that is another nice perk.

I'm hoping we love this house so much that we stay here until our kids are done with high school but we'll see what happens over the years to come!